The Viennese audit office has harshly criticised the use of agency staff in the healthcare industry because the costs of employing agency workers is higher than hiring permanent employees. A 117-page document summarises the findings of the audit office, which investigated the financial expenditure of hospitals in Austria's capital Vienna.

The audit office found that in two major hospitals agency staff earned up to 1.83 Euros more than permanent employees. While the Viennese audit office has condemned the use of “costly agency staff”, it has also admitted that in traditional blue-collar jobs, particularly cleaning jobs, it is economically viable to hire agency staff.

Yet the audit office demanded more financial transparency over the use of agency staff, especially as a local staffing agency which provided the City with blue-collar and white-collar workers, claimed that their agency staff were “cheaper” than permanent staff although the opposite was the case.